MONEY MANNERS
Q I lent my brother $1,000 to send his son to camp, and he was supposed to repay me in six months. But "Jessie" didn't repay me for over a year, even though he and his wife took a couple of nice vacations during that time. Meanwhile, I had to put some things on my credit card that I'd expected to pay for with cash, which meant I wound up paying almost $100 in interest. Doesn't Jessie owe me the additional $100 I had to spend because of him? He says that wasn't part of the deal.
�
A Of course, Jessie owes you for the interest expense you incurred because he was late in repaying you. Maybe it's time to remind him that it would have cost him a lot more than a hundred bucks to borrow that grand from a bank or finance company.
�
Q My ex-husband deserted our family years ago. Although the terms of our divorce required him to pay both spousal and child support, he missed most payments. I recently learned that "Rory" is receiving Social Security, which I'm told can be garnished for unpaid child support. My children, now grown, believe I should do this, but I'm not so sure. While I certainly could use the money, I don't need it to survive, and Social Security is Rory's only income these days. What do you advise?
�
Advertisement
Q Ten years ago, our neighbor fenced his property, including the property line between our two houses. He sold the house a few years later. Recently, the section of the fence by our house came down in a storm. The neighbors who bought the home think we should split the cost of replacing it. Are we obligated to pay to replace it?
A First, find out if there are ordinances that specify who pays for what when it comes to a fence between two properties. If you're not required by law to pay anything, then you're under no obligation to share the cost of replacing a fence you don't want. What wouldn't be right, though, is to refuse to help pay for a fence that, in fact, you'd be happy to see go in. If that's the case, the fact that your original neighbor paid the entire cost of installing a fence the first time around is irrelevant. Your new neighbors don't owe you a free ride just because their predecessor gave you one.
Email your questions about money and relationships to Questions@MoneyManners.net.
Lena Headey Talisa Soto Paula Garcés Gina Carano Desiree Dymond
No comments:
Post a Comment